once again: CNN, BBC, Oscommerce etc, get away but that doesn't mean you or I can too. If OS commerce
just started and all of the sudden they get 20,000 links from one site, they might raise some flags.

How many total links you got, authority or not, rate of getting links etc. could affect any filters or penalities.
If they exist in the first place...

Originally Posted by mattmdesign

I don't think sitewides will have any negative effect on the site that is being linked to. Take a look at oscommerce. They have sitewide links with the same anchor text on a TON of sites.

1) Sitewide link set to a single domain (roughly 10,000 pages) using a keyword with moderately high difficulty.
2) The page took a sharp rise in serps (around 27th position) .
3) A week later it took a sharper nose dive in the serps (waaaay down in the 100's).
4) 5 weeks later it rose back to about 27th and has continued to rise every week.

Go figure...

This site has several links from other pages not included in the 10,000 so it's not like that's the only thing it has going. My point is, if you have the capacity to get a link across a site, it may not be the holy grail that it once was. But it's not going to hurt you in the long term if you can afford to keep it.....which I believe IS the point.